Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Local Government Finance Update

Baroness Penn: My Honourable friend the Minister for Local Government (Simon Hoare MP) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement:On 5 February, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Member for Surrey Heath set out the final Local Government Finance Settlement for England for 2024-25. The final Settlement includes new funding for local authorities worth £600 million and makes available up to £64.7 billion for local authorities in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £4.5 billion, or 7.5% in cash terms, an above-inflation increase, on 2023-24.As a result of this Settlement, the vast majority of local authorities will be able to set balanced budgets in 2024-25 and continue to deliver vital services for their communities.As members of the House will be familiar, there are a small number of local authorities with severe local failure, where the Government has had to step in and take the most serious action through statutory intervention. These authorities are Birmingham City Council, London Borough of Croydon Council, Liverpool City Council, Nottingham City Council, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, Slough Borough Council, Thurrock Council and Woking Borough Council. The House receives regular updates on the progress of these interventions. In some of these cases, significant local failures in governance and financial management have resulted in acute financial failure, and these councils have asked government for continued support to help them set budgets including for 2024-25.In addition, the Government has always stood ready to engage with local authorities who may request support on an exceptional basis due to local issues that they are unable to manage themselves. Whilst those discussions are confidential, the Government is committed to making the details of any support that is agreed public, in the interests of transparency. Today, my department is publishing on gov.uk details of in-principle capitalisation directions provided to a small number of these local authorities. I will deposit in the House library copies of any relevant documents.Capitalisation directions permit a local authority, in specific and exceptional circumstances, to meet revenue costs through capital resources, enabling them to manage budget pressures over time (for example through the sale of council-held assets). They do not include any additional direct grant funding. At this stage, and in line with precedent, the Government has provided these local authorities in-principle support only, to ensure that they can set their 2024-25 budgets and deliver vital services for their communities.In line with the usual framework for agreeing capitalisation directions, appropriate conditions will apply. These are intended to ensure that the process is only used in circumstances where it is truly necessary; address the drivers of the issues that have led to local authorities requesting support; and ensure continued progress towards achieving financial sustainability. In all cases, the Government expects these local authorities to take into account the need to reduce wasteful expenditure, and ensure every area is making best use of taxpayers’ money. Where statutory interventions are in place, any final agreement to support will be contingent upon the demonstration of ongoing improvement, transformation and recovery.Where the Government has agreed to provide support, it is essential that appropriate assurance arrangements are in place. Where appropriate, any final agreement to support will be conditional upon the completion of rigorous external assurance reviews to assess, at a minimum, the local authorities’ financial management practices, and the production of improvement and transformation plans that focus on securing the local authorities’ medium-term financial position. The Government is taking additional action in the case of Plymouth City Council, which has requested a very significant capitalisation as a direct result of the incorrect accounting treatment of a transaction in 2019-20 through which the Council borrowed to pay off a large part of its pension deficit. Given the unusual nature of Plymouth’s approach, the in-principle capitalisation is conditional on a thorough, independent investigation into the transaction.I am clear that the Government will not hesitate to take action if needed to protect local taxpayers.

Ministry of Defence

Contingency Fund Advance: Afghan Relocations and Assistance Programme

The Earl of Minto: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence (The Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.The Ministry of Defence is continuing to deliver the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Programme (ARAP). Defence expenditure this Financial Year now includes supporting Afghan individuals and families with important integration services on arrival in the UK as well as sourcing private rental accommodation where required through existing defence contracts. The Ministry of Defence is seeking a Contingencies Fund advance in order to fulfil its commitments under ARAP. Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £17,000,000 for this new expenditure will be sought in a Supplementary Estimate for the Ministry of Defence. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £17,000,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.

Contingency Fund Advance: MOD 2023-24 funding

The Earl of Minto: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence (The Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.The Ministry of Defence new cash requirement for the year exceeds that provided by the Main Estimate 2023-2024. The Supplementary Estimate has not yet received Royal Assent. The Contingencies Fund advance is required to meet commitments until the Supplementary Estimate receives Royal Assent, at which point the Ministry of Defence will be able to draw down the cash from the Consolidated Fund in the usual way, to repay the Contingencies Fund advance. Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £2,450,000,000 and £750,000,000 of capital will be sought in a Supplementary Estimate for the Ministry of Defence. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £3,200,000,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund. This is a routine Contingencies Fund Advance request that has been agreed with HM Treasury. This request does not affect the Ministry of Defence’s Departmental Expenditure Limit position.

Department of Health and Social Care

England Rare Diseases Action Plan 2024

Lord Markham: My Hon. Friend Minister of State (Minister for Health and Secondary Care) (Andrew Stephenson) has made the the following Written Statement:The government has published England’s third Rare Diseases Action Plan on GOV.UK today, on international Rare Disease Day.Rare diseases are those affecting less than 1 in 2000 in the population. Although rare diseases are individually rare, they are collectively common with 1 in 17 people being affected by a rare disease at some point in their lifetime. Approximately 3.5 million people in the UK are living with one of over 7,000 rare diseases, such as muscular dystrophies or Huntington’s disease. People living with rare diseases often face challenges with the health and care system. The National Conversation on Rare Diseases received nearly 6,300 responses and helped us to identify the four priorities of the 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework: faster diagnosis, increased awareness of rare diseases amongst healthcare professionals, better quality of care and improved access to specialist care, treatment and drugs.This 2024 England Rare Diseases Action Plan is part of the government’s continued commitment to improve the lives of those living with rare conditions. This year’s Action Plan provides an update of the progress made against actions outlined in the 2023 and 2022 Action Plans and sets out 7 new actions to continue to address the priorities highlighted in the UK Rare Diseases Framework.The government has shown strong leadership in addressing the concerns faced by the rare diseases community over the past year, key achievements include:Designing and securing funding for a pilot of two Syndromes Without A Name (SWAN) clinics in England to deliver care and diagnosis for people with rare undiagnosed conditions.Updating the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quality standard on transition from children to adults’ services to ensure that it is relevant to the rare diseases community.Publishing the UK Rare Diseases Research Landscape Report, illustrating the strengths of UK research, with over £1.1 billion of rare disease research funded by government and charities and over 250 research projects supported by industry over a 5-year period.A £14 million investment to fund the UK Rare Disease Research Platform, this is made up of 11 UK-wide research nodes and a coordinating hub facilitating greater collaboration between academic, clinical and industry research, and people living with rare diseases, research charities and other stakeholders, to accelerate the understanding, diagnosis and therapy of rare diseases.Announcement of over 200 rare genetic conditions that will be screened in the Generation Study. This is the biggest study of its kind in the world, screening over 100,000 newborns with the aim to understand whether sequencing babies’ genomes can help to discover rare genetic conditions earlier.The 2024 Action Plan also includes significant new commitments against the Framework priorities, developed collaboratively with our delivery partners across the health landscape, and in close consultation with members of the rare disease community. These include:Developing a genomics communication skills resource to ensure health care providers are equipped to have sensitive conversations relating to the gathering of genomic information, consent for diagnostic genomic testing and feedback of results.Developing the specialist genomics workforce through the Genomics Training Academy.Developing networked models of care for rare diseases, ensuring that specialist expertise is always available whilst allowing patients to be treated and cared for as close to home as possible, starting with networked models for inherited metabolic disorders and amyloidosis.Improving access to whole body scans to increase survival rates and outcomes for people who have rare conditions that result in an inherited predisposition to cancer.Addressing health inequalities for people with rare conditions through publishing a toolkit for Highly Specialised Services and by mapping and measuring the geographic spread of patients accessing these services.Under the Action Plan, the millions of people with rare diseases in England will see more efficient and equitable access to care and new treatments introduced. Over the coming year, we will closely monitor the progress of these actions, seeking input from those living with rare diseases to ensure we are measuring the outcomes that matter most. Progress will be reported in 2025, as part of England's commitments to report annually over the 5-year lifetime of the UK Rare Diseases Framework.Through this third action plan, we will continue to take steps towards achieving our overarching vision – delivering improvements in diagnosis, awareness, treatment and care, and creating lasting positive change for those living with rare diseases.

Cabinet Office

Transforming for a Digital Future: February 2024 progress update

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: In June 2022, the Government published Transforming for a Digital Future: Government’s 2022-25 Roadmap for Digital and Data. This set an ambitious plan that by 2025, we will deliver a transformed, more efficient digital government that provides better services for the people of the United Kingdom.In September 2023, I published an update to the roadmap to ensure we are keeping pace with emerging trends, challenges and opportunities.At the request of the Public Accounts Committee, I am now updating Parliament on progress made against the roadmap including progress made by individual departments. Key recent achievements include:16 of the Top 75 services have so far reached Great, well on the way to our target of 5029 government services are now live with GOV.UK One Login and over 3.3 million people have so far proven their identity through the new systemThe Government Digital and Data profession has grown from 4% to 5.4% of total Civil Service headcount, close to our target of 6%, bringing in the key skills we needThe Generative AI Framework for Government has been published, to provide detailed guidance, resources and tools for the safe and secure usage of generative AIThere is much work still to be done, but I remain confident that under this Government’s plan we are on course to meet the commitments set out in the roadmap by 2025.We will be depositing a full copy of ‘Transforming for a Digital Future: government's 2022 to 25 roadmap for digital and data, February 2024 progress update’ in the Libraries of both Houses.